Chapter 327 - Sun-Burn

The flames weren't hot enough to melt the building yet, but Afton was fairly sure he'd managed to kill the monster within...

*RAAAAAAHHHHHKKKKK!!!*​​

"Movement detected, recommendation; Sneak away..." Nyx says, and Afton struggles to not move his focus from the flames to give his Stealth suit a glare.

"Yeah, state the obvious." He mutters as he watches plant vines completely wreathed in flames started swinging around madly... Apparently, that wasn't enough to kill it yet... Wait, did Nyx say to sneak away?

*SMASH!*

He barely rolls out of the way when a tentacle breaks a large part of the metal building off and throws it like a chakram at him. It buries itself in the wall behind him, making him gulp anxiously. Getting back to his feet, he immediately starts spraying Ash Maker back down on it, hoping that the flames would finish his enemy eventually.

*KRRR!*

The sound of dirt and stone being uprooted nearby draws his attention, and Afton immediately spots many Spore Plants revealing themselves. Nyx warns him of further movements and he takes a glance over the cliff, almost pissing himself in fright when he sees an army of Spore Carriers climbing it like a bunch of Xenomorphs.

[John Wick Style is in effect]

Not wasting any time, he immediately starts spraying everything around him that even has a tint of green. The napalm-like flames first envelop the Spore Plants to prevent them from shooting, then he turns his attention to the Spore Carriers crawling towards him.

As if he were dropping molten oil from a castle wall, anything hit by his flames loses its grip and plummets to the floor below... Unfortunately, Afton could see that his flamethrower still had some 'glitches' he needed to work out... The barrel of it was already glowing red hot, and he wasn't sure how much more it would take before it started completely melting...

A Spore Carrier reaches the top of the cliff and charges him, but Afton just kicks it in the face, holding it down with his foot while shoving the red hot barrel of Ash Maker into its chest, causing an awful sizzling sound and the smell lof burnt rotten-flesh mixed with fertiliser.

This rapidly cools his weapon, while also causing the Spore Carrier to quickly die as its blood boils under the heat.

Afton's brow twitches and he quickly moves away before even Nyx can warn him, a globule of acid passes his previous location, and he quickly turns towards the offending Spore Plants responsible. Apparently, not all of them had unburrowed earlier, as he was already surrounded by them again...

Again, he sprays them all with fire and takes a step back from the cliff to avoid getting hit by any more metal debris Patient Zero decides to throw. "Nyx, anymore movement?"

"High levels detected below us, I am also detecting vibrations coming from the ground..." she states, and Afton didn't like hearing that at all.

Deciding to change position he runs along the top of the canyon, killing a few stray Spore Plants and Spore Carrier while he's at it. Even after the position change Nyx still says she can detect vibrations in the floor, so he just decides to hunker down atop some tough-looking granite. Whatever was underneath him would need to work to get through that.

*Thud!*

Afton smirks slightly as he feels something smash into something else. He could already imagine what'd happened, but he wasn't going to leave it to his own senses entirely. "What was that?"

"Movement beneath us as slowed almost entirely..."

"Okay..." he mutters, not really knowing what to do next. There was something beneath him looking to kill him, but couldn't due to the rock he was standing on...

"It's started again!" Nyx shouts as the ground in front of him uproots, revealing what looked like severely burned plant tentacles. But Afton was ready for this thanks to Nyx, immediately bathing them in another round of fire.

They immediately started flailing around as if in pain, but while Afton while trying to escape their attack range he's stuck in the stomach but is forced to tank the hit entirely due to his [Stonewall] Perk. The tentacle is unable to move him with the attack, but the force of it injuries him nonetheless.

[Grit is in effect]

Grimacing slightly, he leaps away to avoid any more attacks, taking a moment to check how much damage had been done. Fortunately, the injury wasn't anything more than bruising, so he'd count this as a win, as opposed to being thrown off of the cliff instead. As he'd gotten a good distance away, he isn't afraid to go on the offensive again, beginning to shoot more fire at the enemy, igniting them with the sticky substance.

The tentacles quickly retreat back into the ground, most likely attempting to suffocate the flames... Unfortunately for them, he imagined it would be very, very difficult to do that, considering what the substance that was burning was made from.

Again, he makes his way to the ledge of the cliff and starts raining down fire onto everything below, mostly making sure to target Patient Zero's location. He wanted to absolutely make sure it was finished. Most of the plants in the passage below were already ashes, but he wanted to make sure.

After ten more minutes of incinerating anything that moves, Afton sighs and finally stops shooting. The barrel of Ash Maker glowing a dim red again. "Ok, now I'm sure I got everything." he states, "Nothing could survive hell on earth for this long..."

...

"Huh, kinda thought something would happen after saying that-AHH!* he begins but is stopped as a burnt tentacle wraps around his waist and pulls him towards the inferno that once was the metal building where Patient Zero resided.

He struggles to get out of its grip but is pulled through the flames regardless, fortunately... Or not, there seemed to be a cave that'd been recently dug into the canyon wall that wasn't affected by the flames, a cave which he was being pulled through.

Afton readies Ash Maker as he's dragged through the tunnel, eventually spotting his quarry... Patient Zero stood at its full height but looked terribly burned and injured from his previous assault. Many of the tentacles on its back seem to have disappeared entirely. Its condition didn't take away from how fierce it looked however. Its blackened teeth snarling as it turned its head towards him.